PMI Houston Katy: "Is Your Agile Way Too Fragile?"
Pre-Dinner Presentation: Connect or Perish!
Mark McGowan is a Birkman Certified Professional Success Specialist at Birkman International, where he partners with organizations to unlock the full value of The Birkman Method across the entire talent lifecycle—from initial solution design through adoption and long-term impact. With more than 15 years of experience in leadership development, organizational effectiveness, and learning design, Mark is known for translating behavioral science into practical, business-focused strategies that improve communication, strengthen teams, and drive measurable performance outcomes. In his current role, he supports both pre-sales and post-sales engagement, delivering tailored product demonstrations, guiding proof-of-concept initiatives, and helping organizations align Birkman solutions to their strategic priorities.
Following implementation, Mark works closely with clients to ensure successful onboarding, adoption, and sustained value—training leaders on best practices, optimizing product usage, and serving as a trusted advisor across Customer Success, Support, and Product teams. Prior to joining Birkman, he led global Birkman initiatives across diverse regions, certifying hundreds of professionals and integrating behavioral insights into scalable leadership development programs. An Authorized Birkman Trainer and Advanced Certified Professional, Mark brings a global perspective and a passion for helping individuals and organizations turn self-awareness into action—building stronger leaders, more cohesive teams, and more effective organizations.
Topic Synopsis:
To address the vital, non-negotiable importance of human connection and individual personality diversities in an increasingly impersonal, automated and digital world.
Based on decades of research on social connection, Mark will share what we’ve learned about the complexities of understanding our human need for belonging and social connection. Mark will describe the ways our individual differences directly impact leadership, teams and all our relationships at work and with clients.
In our digital world, many of us now work with global companies. For over seven decades we’ve measured the differences and commonalities of people from across the world. The key to success is a more accurate understanding of those who live and work with us. When we connect in healthy, emotionally intelligent ways, the result is stronger companies and happier client relationships. By becoming more self-aware and others aware, we can cultivate stronger, more enduring relationships, the kind of relationships that are always key to success.
Learning Objectives:
- All business development and marketing successes can be traced to some kind of human connection.
- The key to building healthier relationships both at home and at work is to comprehend the hidden needs of those around us.
- Insights from valid and reliable metrics have the power to reveal what is difficult to see and to deepen our understanding of the many ways humans are complicated and complex; the many ways we differ and what we all share, no matter the industry, the company or the country where we live or were born.
PDU Triangle:
1 Power Skills PDU
Dinner Presentation: Is Your Agile Way Too Fragile?
Channey Nicole, PMP, brings nearly 20 years of experience leading enterprise-level projects across multiple industries, most recently in the retail energy sector.
Throughout her career, Channey has guided multi-functional teams in compliance, operations, organizational training, and customer experience, consistently delivering measurable results while surpassing sales, quality, and cost-reduction goals.
She is a PMP Course Instructor at Rice University, Founder and Chief Executive Director at CalThink, a project management training company that partners with organizations such as SCORE Houston to provide practical training and development resources for employees, executives, and business owners.
Channey also actively serves as Vice President of Membership within Toastmasters International and actively volunteers with nonprofit organizations in Southeast Texas.
Topic Synopsis:
Why does Agile seem so fragile? We implement the ceremonies, work in sprints, but results are still bleak, teams are still micromanaged, and silos still exist. “Is Your Agile Way Too Fragile” exposes why Agile fails in many organizations – not because the framework is flawed, but because teams adopt ceremonies without creating the conditions required for true agility. Through the Agile Reality Check™, a three-part diagnostic framework, attendees will assess their organization’s psychological safety, planning disciplines, and structural transparency – foundational conditions that determine whether Agile can truly succeed.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the organizational behaviors and cultural barriers that contribute to high Agile failure rates, including fear-based communication and lack of psychological safety.
- Explain why Agile fails when planning is misunderstood, and how clear requirements increase success rates by up to 97%.
- Evaluate their current Agile implementation for structural integrity, including inconsistent tools, unclear roles, and misaligned leadership support.
- Apply the Agile Reality Check™ framework to diagnose issues within project teams and propose targeted interventions.
PDU Triangle:
1 Ways of Workings PDU
Event Information
| Event Date | 06-10-2026 5:00 pm |
| Event End Date | 06-10-2026 8:00 pm |
| Cut Off Date | 06-10-2026 8:00 pm |
| Capacity | 36 |
| Individual Price | $30 Members / $40 Guests / $20 Student/Unemployed |
| Location | Home2 Suites Katy |